Tough times for Kenyans as Safaricom increases cost of making calls

Safaricom is planning to increase the cost for voice calls and data by 30 cents and SMS by 10 cents as from midnight, the 18th October 2018.

This is as a result of the increased taxes passed in the Finance Act 2018, particularly the Excise Duty tax applicable on Voice, SMS and Data services was increased from 10% to 15%. This is in addition to the prevailing Value Added Tax applicable to mobile services at the rate of 16%.

“We wish to notify our customers that from midnight tonight, the 18th October 2018, our headline price for voice calls and data will increase by 30 cents and SMS by 10 cents,” read part of the Safaricom statement released Wednesday afternoon.

Safaricom has been undertaking extensive engagement with the Government on the impact, timing and exact nature of services that these taxes will affect.

The company has also reviewed prices for mobile data bundles, Fibre-To-The-Building (FTTB) and Fibre-To-The-Home (FTTH) to effect the new 15% Excise Duty tax on internet services.

The full tariff guide has been filed with Communications Authority of Kenya as required by law and is available online, USSD, and all Safaricom customer touchpoints.